


Light on his Side

by egosoffire



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Childhood Memories, M/M, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 21:08:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13108557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/egosoffire/pseuds/egosoffire
Summary: Kes Dameron would always remember Luke Skywalker's words, said at the birth of his son. They would echo through the years, as he thought of Poe, and the boy who thought that Poe was the entire universe.





	Light on his Side

Luke Skywalker had been there at Poe’s birth. He was concerned about Shara and wanted to be there. It was a silly worry, as Shara was the strongest woman in the galaxy, but it was appreciated. Kes Dameron, decades later and a totally different man, would never forget the words he spoke the moment he laid eyes on their beautiful son. 

“This child will bring the Light.”

Luke had said the words as though in awe, like he had no idea they were coming. His eyes had been wide, and he had just watched for a moment. Luckily, Shara interrupted the slightly uncomfortable long stare with a laugh. She’d had the most beautiful laugh.

“Would you like to hold him, Luke?” 

Luke had blinked, the moment was gone and he had immediately taken Poe into his arms, an awkward gesture considering he was the man who’d saved the galaxy from the Empire.  

Those words that Luke had spoken hadn’t seemed like much at the time, but they would always echo in the back of his mind. Poe was a bringer of Light and had always been, from that moment when he was born.

Poe was a child when he first met Ben Solo. It was almost a year after Shara had passed. Kes had been uncertain that he would ever see the Light in his son’s eyes again, as misery seemed to overwhelm him with his beloved mother’s death. Yet, when the two children met, Poe had smiled at the younger boy, a smile that reminded him so very much of his mother’s.

“Come on!” Poe had urged the boy, a slight thing with shaggy dark hair and big brown eyes. “I’ll show you all around the house. Oh, and the tree! You have got to see the tree!” 

Ben stayed with them on-and-off for years. It was good for Poe, and honestly, neither General Organa or her husband had much time for the kid. It was nice, watching his son grow up, running around Yavin 4 with a boy trailing shortly behind who thought the universe of him. 

Poe was about ten when he first brought up the problems  _ his  _ Ben was having. He was very adamant, for a couple of those early years, that Ben was  _ his  _ best friend, and later  _ his  _ Ben. They were sitting together in Poe’s room, Poe cross-legged on the floor, frowning. Kes had been balanced on the stool near the door. 

“What is it, kiddo?” he had asked.

“Ben’s sad a lot,” was Poe’s solemn reply, a reply that made him sound much older than ten. “He says that sometimes he has these voices in his head that make him feel sad and confused. I don’t understand it…”

“Did you tell him to talk to his uncle?”

“Yeah,” Poe grumbled. “He said that it wasn’t a problem and he didn’t want to worry  _ the  _ Luke Skywalker over something so stupid.”

“Well, he is a sensitive kid. I’m sure he’ll be okay. His parents…” 

“He says that his parents don’t care about him, too,” Poe replied, a bit more hesitantly than before. “I met the general, remember? She’s the nicest, bravest lady in the galaxy. You don’t think she doesn’t care about Ben, do you?” 

“Nah, Leia loves her son very much. She’s just holding the galaxy on her shoulders, you know?”

“Kind of like Mom did…” 

“Exactly.” 

“What do I do to help Ben?” 

The question was so soft, so genuine, that Kes couldn’t help be reminded of the words Luke had spoken, a decade ago, when his little boy was born. Poe was a warm Light in a world that could often seem terrible, dark. He thought his answer through for a moment, wanting to give the child a worthy one. 

“Be his friend,” he finally said, after a moment. “Be kind, and loving and listen when you can. He’ll be happy to have a friend who listens to him and who cares about his problems…” 

“Thank you, Dad.” 

“Any time, Poe.” 

Poe was thirteen when Ben went off to train with Luke Skywalker. The Force had played a large role in how sad Ben Solo seemed, or at least that was what the others believed. Both Kes and his son had hope that the training would focus whatever the dark thoughts in Ben’s head meant. He had sat with his son, the brave, impulsive would-be pilot and held him as he cried. 

“Hey, he’ll come back to you,” he had promised. “He’s going away to train, yeah, but he’s not gone.” 

“No, he’s not.” 

Ben had visited at every free second he got. Kes got the impression that Luke didn’t exactly approve of his nephew’s doings, but he couldn’t find it in himself to give a damn. Those boys needed each other. It was obvious that the young Jedi and the hotshot pilot were meant to be. 

He had realized, a few years later, the exact nature of their relationship when he caught them in a grounded ship that he’d kept on his property, fixing it up for the pilots that patrolled and defended the planet. The ship was non-functional, as he hadn’t finished the work on it, but Poe and little Ben Solo had found a function for it. 

Poe’s back was to him, so his son never saw. The two boys were wrapped up in each other, Ben’s lanky arms around Poe’s waist. His son’s fingers brushed lightly over Ben’s cheek while they kissed. It was a tender, beautiful moment, but he was a Father so he was shocked. 

Poe never knew he was there. Ben did, however. The sensitive Jedi-in-training looked up, shocked. Poe turned around, surprised by the sudden movement from his partner, but Kes, even as he aged, still had a few tricks up his sleeve and was gone before his son could realize the embarrassment that had just passed.

He wasn’t unhappy about the pairing at all. Ben was a nice boy, a lonely, conflicted boy and Poe was Light. He was brave, impulsive and apt to make stupid mistakes, but he had Light and love in his heart. He was what Ben needed. He could also see the way that Ben made his boy smile. Catching them in a secret, a joke, was a joy like no other. 

It was right.

He never knew exactly what happened, years later, to Luke Skywalker, to Ben Solo, and to the Jedi that he tried to train. He had heard the distress signal that was sent out, heard reports from friends that still fought with the Resistance, but he didn’t know anything. He never had the exact story, and wasn’t sure he ever would. 

Poe was already following in his mother’s footsteps at that point, the best pilot of his age. He worked alongside the general and Kes was proud. His son was happy, stable and fighting for his beliefs. It terrified his father every day, but he’d be damned if he wasn’t proud.

Poe landed in front of their house. The best pilot of his age nearly  _ crash landed _ in front of the building. When he got out of the craft, Kes could see that everything was wrong. Poe’s eyes were dark, haunted. He almost looked drunk, the way that he stumbled out of the ship and dropped down to his knees. He had run that day, meeting his son on the ground. 

“Poe?”

Poe’s story came out in sobs. “Ben…” he whispered. “Ben, the Jedi… He killed them. I felt it. Luke’s gone, but...that’s what happened. I don’t know how… I felt it.”

“Luke’s gone. Is he…” 

“No. I felt that too!” Poe nearly screamed out the words. “I felt it. Ben thinks he killed...killed Luke, but he didn’t… my Ben’s gone…I can’t...I can’t do this, Dad. Ben’s gone to the Dark Side.” 

He had tried his best to hold his son while he sobbed, the same way he had when his mother died, the same way he had when Ben had first gone to train. Poe wasn’t a tiny kid he could scoop up into his arms and tuck into bed, though. He was a grown man, a man who had grown up too fast to follow his heart, and he was suffering. 

“I think the Dark Side has really...they took him. I think he’s gone…” Poe whimpered as he forcibly led his son inside.

“You’re the Light. You’re not going to let him go.” 

The words Luke Skywalker had spoken at Poe’s birth echoed in his head then. Then, they echoed again, years later, when Poe (thank everything, he was alive! Distress signals had been sent throughout the galaxy, and it looked so dire, but Poe was alive!) came back to Yavin 4, a bloodied, beaten man in tow. 

Ben.

Both of his parents and his uncle were gone. Yet, the boy was unmistakable.

“Ben Solo…” 

The dark figure supported by his son looked up. Those eyes were the same that he’d seen decades ago, then a bit later, looking at his son like the whole galaxy existed in him. His face was scarred, blood on his lower lip. “I never...apologized for the shock you got, that night, in the ship,” he rasped out in a broken voice. 

“Dad, I need a place for him to recover,” Poe murmured, eyes wide, terrified. “He’s hurt and nobody knows we’re here. It’s a risk, but…” 

Kes understood. It was a risk to their peaceful community, but like the tree that stood proud behind his home, Poe was full of Light, and Light took risk. It didn’t matter what Ben Solo had done (and he was well-versed in what the child had done). He had Light on his side yet again. 

 


End file.
